Behind the Classical Curtain

'Mozart in the Jungle' Pilot Offers New View of Music World

Shooting a scene with Malcolm McDowell and Bernadette Peters, the violinist Joshua Bell admitted to feeling a bit star-struck.

"I thought he was going to be kind of a crazy man—I love 'Clockwork Orange,'" Mr. Bell said of Mr. McDowell, who has played a string of villains and deranged characters over his 45-year career.

Turns out it was all acting. "He's such a nice, warm person," said Mr. Bell. "We really hit it off."

ENLARGE

Joshua Bell, left, and Malcolm McDowell in a scene from 'Mozart.'
Amazon Studios

The brief scene, in which Mr. Bell plays himself and Mr. McDowell plays an established but aging conductor, is part of "Mozart in the Jungle," a new pilot produced by Amazon Studios, Amazon's recent foray into web video. The pilot aims to pull back the curtain on the supposedly staid world of classical music, exposing drama, political infighting and sex.

The roughly 30-minute pilot wrapped up filming in Manhattan and Purchase, N.Y., in November, and will be released online in early 2014. On Thursday, Amazon announced its cast, which, in addition to Mr. McDowell and Ms. Peters, includes Gael García Bernal,Lola Kirke,Saffron Burrows and Peter Vack.

The script, written by Roman Coppola,Jason Schwartzman and Alex Timbers, is inspired by the 2005 memoir "Mozart in the Jungle" by Blair Tindall, an oboist who spent several decades playing in New York's freelance classical scene. (The book's subtitle is "Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music.")

The plot revolves around a young oboist, played by Ms. Kirke, on the cusp of her first big break in New York, and an older conductor being pushed out by a younger, better-looking one, played by Mr. Bernal. (The character, originally called Gustavo but renamed Rodrigo, bears a resemblance to Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.)

Various local musicians are also involved, including the actors' coaches and members of the Chelsea Symphony and the New Westchester Symphony Orchestra.

In "Mozart in the Jungle," as in other Amazon pilots, the studio strives to focus on the drama within well-defined worlds, said Joe Lewis, head of comedy at Amazon Studios. "Classical music isn't necessarily something that's hugely relatable to a lot of people," he said. "How do you take something that could be dry, and express the reality of that world, which is anything but?"

There was a personal connection as well, he added. "I had been dating a classical violinist, and that opened my eyes to some of the sex and drugs in the classical music world."

It's a world that brings together people in different stages of their lives who are intensely devoted to their crafts, said Paul Weitz, the director. "When you have this lifelong relationship [to an instrument], which often is a love-hate one, it allows you to hide from emotional things and leads to interesting character development."

While Amazon's pilot takes place in the present, much of the memoir is set in the 1980s. Ms. Tindall, who played with ensembles from the New York Philharmonic to Broadway pits, described a scene rife with drug use, where one's choice of romantic partners often correlated with success.

"It was a time period in history when women had the pill, people could have sexual abandon without fear of pregnancy," said Ms. Tindall.

But some things have changed. "All the people I know who were doing cocaine in the '80s don't even drink coffee now," she said.

"Mozart in the Jungle" is one of 25 pilots approved by Amazon, 11 of which are currently in production. After a pilot goes online, the e-commerce company monitors viewer response to decide which ones to turn into series. Amazon's first two, "Betas," about a startup, and "Alpha House," about four senators rooming together in D.C., released in November.

In Mr. Bell's scene in "Mozart in the Jungle," he plays the end of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto and bows while bantering with Mr. McDowell.

While this mimicked his regular routine—performing, bowing, post-concert chatter—it was nevertheless a rush.

"It gives me a little bit of the bug," Mr. Bell said. "It makes me want to stretch a little bit, and try a couple more lines next time."

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